Movies

Sunday, 13 July
8.30pm

Uma Thurman, Angelica Huston, James Fox, Kate Beckinsale, Nick Nolte, Jeremy Northam star in this opulent production of The Golden Bowl, an intricately plotted tale of thwarted love and betrayal.

The Golden Bowl tells the story of an extravagantly rich American widower (Nick Nolte) and his sheltered daughter (Kate Beckinsale), both of whom marry only to discover that their respective mates, a beautiful American expatriate and an impoverished Italian aristocrat (Uma Thurman and Jeremy Northam), are entangled with one another in a romantic intrigue of seduction and deceit.

Set in England and Italy between 1903 and 1909, The Golden Bowl is adapted from the Henry James novel by the acclaimed and award-winning filmmaking team of Ismail Merchant, James Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who have successfully adapted other films based on James's novels - The Bostonians and The Europeans.

Sunday, 06 July
8.30pm

Valentine's Day tells the story of Ben Valentine (Rhys Muldoon) who drifts into the small Victorian country town of Rushworth. He quickly finds himself in trouble with the law. As a famous Aussie Rules footballer fallen on hard times, he is given 200 hours of community service coaching the town's 'no-hoper' football team. But is he in fact who he seems to be?

Teetering on the brink of demise, The Mighty Bears (aka The Growlers) need to win three out of the four next games or they will be forced to merge with their arch rivals, Lucan. Worse still, the town's beloved pie factory, Dicks, which was recently bequeathed to the Bears, will have to be sold.

For the proud, close-knit community the future is looking bleak. Embraced heart and soul by the townsfolk, this one-time drifter learns how to live and hope again - as does the town.

Sunday, 29 June
8.50pm

A heart-warming and emotional drama about life, families and the love of children. A couple learn to look at life in a whole new way when they take in two troubled children from Belarus, the country worst affected by the Chernobyl disaster.

Bob (Alun Armstrong - New Tricks, The Mummy Returns, Proof of Life) and Julie Jenkins (Lindsey Coulson - Clocking Off, The Stepfather) are struggling to come to terms with major changes in their settled family life. Their much loved daughter Laura (Stephanie Robinson) is leaving home and both are dealing with the empty nest in very different ways.

Bob diverts his sadness into building a dream house for him and Julie, rather than spend any time with his wife, which is actually what she wants and needs. Julie decides they need a new challenge and gets involved in a charity scheme to offer children from Belarus a month's holiday in Britain.

Sunday, 22 June
8.30pm

The fourth and final drama in ABC1's season of Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, stars Billie Piper (Dr. Who; The Ruby in the Smoke; Much Ado About Nothing) as Jane Austen's favourite heroine, **** Price.

Taken from the poverty of her childhood surroundings to the sumptuous home of her aunt and uncle, Lady Bertram (Jemma Redgrave - Judge John Deed; The Inspector Lynley Mysteries; Tom Brown's Schooldays; Lewis, Waking The Dead) and Sir Thomas Bertram (Douglas Hodge - Middlemarch; Vanity Fair; Red Cap; Spooks) at Mansfield Park, she is never allowed to forget her humble past.

While her uncle is away on business in Antigua, the beguiling Mary Crawford (Hayley Atwell - The Ruby in the Smoke; The Line of Beauty) and her handsome brother Henry (Joseph Beattie - Malice Aforethought) arrive in the neighbourhood, bringing with them the glamour and recklessness of London society.

Sunday, 15 June
8.30pm

The third drama in ABC1's season of Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, stars Felicity Jones (Servants; Brideshead Revisited) as the young, naïve Catherine Moreland.

Catherine is a spirited young beauty from the country who enters into the depraved but wealthy society of eighteenth century Bath, with dreams and fantasies sparked by her love of gothic romance novels.

It is in Bath that she meets two men, both vying for her affection. The dashing, but jealous, John Thorpe (William Beck - Robin Hood) and the gentle and sincere Henry Tilney (JJ Feild - The Ruby in the Smoke; The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton). Despite the advice of her mischievous new friend Isabella (Cary Mulligan - Bleak House; Pride & Prejudice), Catherine treats neither man as more than a dear friend.
When she accepts an invitation to Northanger Abbey from Henry's tyrannical father, however, she finds herself falling in love.

Sunday, 08 June
8.30pm

Persuasion, the second drama in ABC1's season of Jane Austen, is the story of Anne Elliot who, at the age of 27, is resigned to spinsterhood.

Eight years previously, Anne fell deeply in love with the handsome young naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, and became engaged to him. But with neither fortune nor rank to recommend him, Anne's conceited father - a baronet - and her well-meaning but class-conscious godmother persuaded her to break off the match.

When Wentworth returns from sea a rich and desirable captain, Anne can only look on in despair as every eligible young woman falls at his feet. Anne has never stopped loving him, but has Wentworth forgotten the girl he left behind? And can he ever forgive her for listening to her family instead of her heart?

Sunday, 01 June
8.30pm

Produced by the team behind the BBC's Pride and Prejudice and adapted for television by the award-winning writer Andrew Davies (Doctor Zhivago; Bridget Jones Diary), this Emmy Award-winning and BAFTA-nominated production of Jane Austen's classic novel Emma is by turns a comedy, love story and mystery, featuring a prestigious cast.

Kate Beckinsale (The Aviator; Pearl Harbour; Cold Comfort Farm) stars as the beautiful, rich, clever and infuriating heroine, Emma Woodhouse. She rules over her elderly, crotchety father and attempts to influence the lives and loves of their circle of friends in the small village of Highbury.

Friday April 11
8:30pm

- Movie adaptation of popular author Nora Roberts’ best-seller
- Alicia Witt, Matthew Settle, Scott Bakula and Talia Shire guest star

ALICIA WITT (“The Upside of Anger”, “Ring of the Nibelungs”, “Cybill”), MATTHEW SETTLE (“Brothers & Sisters”, “Band of Brothers”), SCOTT BAKULA (“Star Trek: Enterprise”, “Quantum Leap”) and TALIA SHIRE (“Rocky”, “The Godfather”) star in NORA ROBERTS’ BLUE SMOKE. Based on the book of the same name by bestselling author Nora Roberts, the film tells the story of Reena, a young arson investigator who steps into the greatest inferno she has ever faced.

Friday April 4
8:30pm

- Movie adaptation of popular author Nora Roberts’ #1 New York Times best-seller
- Claire Forlani, Jacqueline Bisset and Oliver Hudson star

CLAIRE FORLANI (“Meet Joe Black”), OLIVER HUDSON (“Rules Of Engagement”) and JACQUELINE BISSET (“The Deep”) star in NORA ROBERTS’ CAROLINA MOON based on the #1 New York Times bestselling book about an unusual young woman who returns to her hometown to confront the violent memories of her childhood and becomes the key to solving a series of murders that began with her best friend’s.

In NORA ROBERTS’ CAROLINA MOON, Tory Bodeen (Forlani) returns to her small hometown in South Carolina where she suffered a violent childhood. But Tory is a clairvoyant, and going home means reliving the horrific images that flashed through her mind the night, years ago, when her childhood friend Hope Lavelle was murdered.

Friday March 28
8:30pm

- Movie adaptation of popular author Nora Roberts’ New York Times best-seller
- John Corbett and Diane Ladd star

JOHN CORBETT (“Sex and the City”), ASHLEY WILLIAMS, CHARLOTTE ROSS (“NYPD Blue”) and Golden Globe® Award-winning actress Diane Ladd (“Alice”) star in NORA ROBERTS’ MONTANA SKY, based on the popular author’s New York Times best-seller. The film focuses on three half sisters who meet for the first time when their father dies. MONTANA SKY is the second in a series of four Nora Roberts books adapted as event movies. Roberts was the 7th highest selling author in Australia in 2007.

In MONTANA SKY, multi-millionaire cattleman Jack Mercy dies, leaving a will requiring his three daughters – half sisters and strangers to one another – to spend 12 months together on his ranch in order to claim their inheritance.

- Movie adaptation of popular author Nora Roberts’ #1 New York Times best-seller

- Heather Locklear and Johnathon Schaech star

HEATHER LOCKLEAR and JOHNATHON SCHAECH star in NORA ROBERTS’ ANGELS FALL. Based on the popular author’s #1 New York Times best-seller, ANGELS FALL tells the story of a woman who, while trying to rebuild her life after surviving a restaurant massacre, finds herself in the middle of another tragedy.

ANGELS FALL is the first in a series of four Nora Roberts books adapted as event movies. The three additional movies include “Nora Roberts’ Montana Sky”, “Nora Roberts’ Blue Smoke” and “Nora Roberts’ Carolina Moon”. Roberts was the 7th highest selling author in Australia in 2007.

Wednesday, 23 January 2008
10:35pm
Movie: Hitchcock Classic: Rear Window
In 1950-something New York, adventurous freelance photographer L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) finds himself with a broken leg and is confined to a wheelchair in his tiny apartment.

With only the occasional distraction of a visiting nurse and his frustrated love interest Lisa, a beautiful fashion consultant (Grace Kelly), his attention is naturally drawn to the courtyard outside his rear window and the occupants of the apartment buildings which surround it.

Soon he is consumed by the private dramas of his neighbours’ lives, which play themselves out before his eyes.

08:35PM
MOVIE: BLACK AND WHITE
Monday, 28 January 2008
Based on a true story, Black And White is a highly compelling film based on a 1959 landmark trial that irrevocably changed police procedure and judicial authority in South Australia.

It's Christmas in conservative Adelaide, a city that prides itself on its peaceful, well-bred qualities. An inexperienced but passionate young lawyer, David O'Sullivan (Robert Carlyle), is given news that he has drawn a 'bad lottery prize' - a legal aid case defending a young Aboriginal man called Max Stuart (David Ngoombujarra).

Max has been arrested for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in the far-west town of Ceduna. O'Sullivan soon concludes that Max has been framed by the local police, accusing them of beating a false confession out of the young Aborigine. He decides to take a stand, and stop Max from being hanged for a crime O'Sullivan strongly believes Max did not commit.

HOGFATHER

8:30pm (PG)

– PREMIERE

– FIRST SCREEN ADAPTATION OF TERRY PRATCHETT NOVEL

– CONCLUDES MONDAY NIGHT

Enter into the world of fantasy and imagination with HOGFATHER, a humorous and satirical miniseries based on the best-selling novel by Terry Pratchett – the first of his books to be adapted as a live action film.

He only comes once a year, bringing holiday spirit and delight to the lives of children by making their dreams come true. He is known as Hogfather, and this season the Hogswatch holiday is in danger, along with a necessary human weakness—faith.

MOVIE: ‘HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2’

**PREMIERES AT SPECIAL FAMILY TIME**

The record-breaking movie hit, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 – starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens - premieres tonight on Seven.

School's out and East High School hoops star Troy Bolton, A-student Gabriella Montez and the rest of the Wildcats are getting ready for a fun summer vacation. But that all changes when scheming drama queen Sharpay Evans uses her dad's connections to get Troy a job at their ritzy country club – and a chance at a college basketball scholarship. The catch? He'll have to turn his back on his friends and pair up with Sharpay in a musical extravaganza for the club's annual talent show.

But when Gabriella and the Wildcats starting making plans without Troy, he must decide where his loyalties truly lie.